How Riddle Hospital is preparing for Crozer Health's closure in Pennsylvania
With Prospect Medical Holdings closing the Crozer Health hospitals in Delaware County, Riddle Hospital is preparing for the expected increase in patients would will be coming.
Shelly Buck, the president of Riddle Hospital, told CBS News Philadelphia they're adding 50 beds on three floors in anticipation of patients from the closure of Crozer-Chester Medical Center, which is 5 miles away.
"We're ready to go," Buck said. "We have been preparing for months now for this. I'd say all departments, not only the hospitals, but the ambulatory practices, the outpatient imaging, outpatient labs. They're all going to be impacted."
Buck says the emergency department at Riddle Hospital, which has 23 beds, is expecting the most immediate impact from the closure of Crozer.
"Currently, we're seeing about 150 to 160 patients per day," Buck said. "We expect that volume to go up."
An expansion of Riddle's emergency department is underway. The hospital is adding community health workers to ensure that new patients receive the appropriate support services.
"We are here to take care of everyone," Buck said. "If patients were to come to our doors today, we have spaces to take care of them. We have staff available. We are getting more staff as we speak. We have been constantly planning and preparing for this."
Main Line Health, which owns Riddle Hospital, Lankenau Medical Center and Bryn Mawr Hospital, has been coordinating plans with Delaware County health and other hospital systems like Penn Medicine.
Patients currently hospitalized at Crozer will be moved to other facilities based on needs and availability.
Main Line Health will send the first wave of Crozer patients to Lankenau and Bryn Mawr to free up space at Riddle, which is expecting the biggest volume of Crozer patients.
